Minako Abe

Softly spread in silky thin layers, Abe’s color reverberates against the white walls of Base Gallery with a calming dreamy sensibility. Layered segments begin to feel like the stratified sediment of psychedelic soil, as the paintings manipulate a varied palette into a smoothly harmonious voice. And as if to emphasize this gentle quality the colors all move lazily with the slight sense of a ripple or wave beckoning us in further.

More so it was in the slight deviations from flattened surfaces that the most enjoyable moments in Abe’s work appeared. Several curious details broke the images sharpened lines and spoke out with a voice less calculated. In one work, a small row of grey blocks indicated depth as it led to what appeared to be a tunnel, while in another image a patchwork of violet grays suddenly offered detail amid a row of residential silhouettes. But the uncertainty about what these moments might mean in relation to the narrative and the painting as a whole proved a particularly satisfying. These sudden instances of thickened paint and articulated detail in a building or field seemed more magical in a way, as though their existence was a note of willingness to fumble amid a field of careful deliberations.

Yet as with most digitally manipulated imagery however, the evidence of Adobe was readily apparent and left the impression that although these works seemed so alluring at the moment, they might perhaps lose some of their presence overtime. Still, bathing in the warm safe colors of these landscape meditations it was easy to believe that these better places existed somewhere, and Abe had found them and returned with these glimpses to share.